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below low water and probably deeper. Thus the productivity of all the bars can be 
greatly increased by extending the shelled areas below low water and by planting 
bags on muddy bottoms where loose shells would be lost. 
An attempt was made to catch set in a very shallow body of water known as 
Shell Point Cove, ‘located just above Shell Point. The cove, which is locally known 
as Sunset Bay, has never been used for collecting of seed. There is a general opinion, 
based on the experiments made several years ago by local oystermen, that the bay 
is unsuitable for catching of seed and that the shells thrown over its bottom never 
will catch any spat. Several bags planted there in July 1928, 1 and 2 feet below low 
water, caught however, from 6,800 to 7,900 spat per bushel. 
It appears that the whole area of Shell Point Cove, comprising several acres of 
barren bottom, can be utilized for catching seed oysters and can be converted into 
productive ground. 
In 1928 the number of blank shells (having no spat) in the bags was not over 1 
per cent as compared to 10 per cent of blanks found in the previous summer. The 
smaller percentage of blank shells in 1928 is undoubtedly due to much heavier setting 
during that year. An exception to this was found in the bags planted 3 feet or more 
below low-water mark; 75 per cent scallop shells and 5 per cent of oyster shells from 
these bags having no spat. In the localities where setting was poor, all the spat in 
the bags was found on the outer shells only. 
It is interesting to note that in the summer of 1927 the zone of the most intensive 
setting was about three-fourths of a foot higher than in 1928. The exact cause of 
this difference is difficult to ascertain, yet it seems probable that it was due to a 
range of tide during the time of setting. In 1927 setting took place between August 1 
and 19 with the probable maximum around August 11-12 when the height of the tide 
was 4.2 to 4.4 feet. In 1928 setting occurred about July 26 when the height of the 
tide was only 3.3 feet. Unfortunately lack of knowledge of the conditions governing 
the behavior of the larvae during their setting does not justify any further speculations 
as to the possible causes of the variation in the zone of setting. 
IV. EXPERIMENTS IN SEED-OYSTER PRODUCTION AND COLLECTION IN 
MILFORD HARBOR, CONN., 1925-1928 
By H. F. PRYTHERCH 
INTRODUCTION 
Milford Harbor is one of the typical oyster producing inshore areas of the State 
of Connecticut. When the town of Milford was settled in 1639, oysters and clams 
were found in abundance along its shores, and the fishing of oysters, which was free 
to everyone, soon lead to depletion of the beds and the passage of the first oyster 
legislation in 1784. This law gave to the towns in the State the power to regulate 
the fisheries of oysters and clams within their respective limits and resulted in various 
regulations restricting the quantity to be taken and the season when oysters could be 
harvested. These measures prevented overfishing to some extent and were followed 
in 1845 by legislation which allowed for the first time the transplanting and laying 
down of oysters from other States. In 1855 an important law known as the two 
acre law was passed which granted to any citizen such an area of bottom for the 
cultivation of shellfish, which at the time was considered to be all that one man 
